English Idioms Errors Made By Jordanian EFL Undergraduate .
International Journal of Humanities and Social ScienceVol. 5, No. 5; May 2015English Idioms Errors Made by Jordanian EFL Undergraduate StudentsGhada Abdelmajid AlkarazounFaculty of Educational Sciences and Arts (FESA)UNRWA UniversityJordanAbstractThis study investigated English idioms errors made by Jordanian EFL undergraduate students. The study alsoaimed to examine the areas of idioms where EFL learners scored the highest as well as the lowest and tackletheir overall achievement in identifying meanings of idioms. The data of the study was collected through a testcomposed of (20) multiple choice items covering various areas of idiomatic expressions. The test wasadministered to a randomly selected sample consisting of (60) fourth-year EFL students (50 females, 10 males)in the Department of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Arts (FESA) inUNRWA University in Amman, Jordan. Results revealed that the EFL students got the highest scores in nounsrelated to key words with idiomatic uses, idioms with noun phrases, adjectives and nouns, idioms withkeywords from special categories including food, and idioms with a comparison form. However, they got thelowest scores in idioms of pairs of nouns, adjectives and adverbs, and idioms with keywords from specialcategories including animals and body parts. Results also showed that that there are statistically significantdifferences in the EFL students’ achievement on all the domains of the test. However, the EFL students were ofa low achievement in figuring out meanings of idioms. Correct answers were (490) representing (40.7%) of thetotal number of the answers. In light of these results, the researcher proposes a number of pedagogicalrecommendations related to teaching idioms and future research.Keywords: idioms, EFL, undergraduate, students, pedagogical, comparative form1.1 Error AnalysisErrors, always, a central concern in language learning, has been a crucial issue in language teaching as well.Inevitably, all learners make mistakes and commit errors. In other words, errors have been the flawed sides oflearners' speech or writing. However, this has been impeded through active adaption of “Error Analysis”hypothesis (EA), which still receives a great attention from distinguished researchers and is still considered animportant factor in the English language learning-teaching process particularly if the English language is thelearners' second language or foreign one.Error Analysis (EA), a fundamental branch of applied linguistics, emerged in the sixties to address students'performance (Shrestha, 1979:1). More specifically, this approach is based on the hypothesis that the learners'errors do not only occur because of their mother tongue interference, a framework hypothesis of errors in secondlanguage acquisition adapted and addressed by Contrastive Analysis (CA), but they also happen due to some"universal strategies" (Khansir, 2012:1027). Error analysis (EA) was established to create a change in attitudestowards the errors. Until the sixties, the main focus of contrastive analysts was on the actual error, the 'product',committed by the learners due to their mother tongue interference in second language learning (Shrestha, 1979:1). With error analysis (EA), the emphasis has been shifted from the 'product' to the 'process'. The fundamentaltask of (EA) is to describe how learning occurs by examining the learners' output including their correct andincorrect utterances (Khansir, 2012:1027). Richards (cited in ibid) considered (EA) a field that allocates thedifferences between the way people learning a language speak and the way adult native speakers of the languageuse it.Such an analysis has yielded fruitful benefits for the learners and the teachers as well since the teachers have beenable to figure out how much of the target language the learners know and how much is still not learnt (Shrestha,1979:1).54
ISSN 2220-8488 (Print), 2221-0989 (Online) Center for Promoting Ideas, USAwww.ijhssnet.comAccording to Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching & Applied Linguistics (2010: 201), (EA) has beenmanifested in order to (1) describe strategies used by the learners in language teaching, (2) spot causes of errors,and finally (3) gain information on common difficulties in language learning to develop materials and strategies tohelp the learners avoid their errors. Corder (cited in Hsu: 2013: 513) commented on the usefulness of (EA) statingthat language teachers can use it to grab the attention of the second language learners to their errors, examine firstlanguage and second language system, and then examine their second language production; however, (EA) cannotthoroughly examine the reasons behind errors made by the second language learners while approaching theirlanguage proficiency. Corder (cited in Bagheri & Heydari , 2012: 1583) emphasized the importance of (EA) to thelearners as well stating that that it is unquestionably significant to them because it functions as a device that thelearners uses in order to develop their learning by avoiding committing the errors.The field of (EA) is divided into two branches as it follows: (i) theoretical, and (ii) applied. The former clarifiedwhat and how the learners learn when they study a second language. The latter, however, served to enable thelearners to learn more effectively by organizing remedial courses, recommending appropriate materials, andteaching strategies based on the findings of theoretical (EA) (Erdogan, 2005:262). Equivalently, the investigationof errors is either diagnostics or prognostic. It is diagnostic because it attempted to investigate what is going on inthe minds of language learners at a given point during the learning process, and prognostic because it guidedcourse organizers to modify language learning materials and courses based on the learners' existing problems(khan, 2011:105-106). In order to analyze the learners' errors, it is crucial to distinguish between a ‘mistake’ andan ‘error’. The distinction is based on a self-correction criterion. A mistake is self-corrected while an error is not.Errors are systematic in which they occur repeatedly since the learners do not recognize them. Hence, only theteachers or researchers have been able to allocate them, yet not the learners (AbiSamra, 2003: 4). Corder (cited inShrestha, 1979:1), however, distinguished between performance and competence errors. The first resembles'mistakes' since they are made when the learners are tired or hurried. The latter are more serious because theydepict inadequate learning (Khansir, 2012: 1028). Burt (cited in Fang & Xue-mei, 2007: 12) differentiatedbetween "global" and "local" errors. The former hampers communication, leads to misunderstanding betweenspeakers, and are usually left uncorrected. However, the latter only affects a minimal element of sentence, butthey do not hinder communication since they are systematic in their occurrence, and thus they are preferred to becorrected.When it comes to errors, it is inevitable to detect their sources. Brown (cited in Abu Shihab et al. 2011: 544)stated that the chief obstacle to the second language system is the interference of the first language on theperformance of the target English language learners. Interlingual errors occur at different levels transferringphonological, morphological, grammatical, and lexical elements of the native language into the target language.Another reason is mainly attributed to the learners' attempts to derive rules from the data they are exposed to andprobably come with hypotheses that match neither with the mother tongue nor with the target language. This iscalled intra-lingual transfer which includes different types as overgeneralization, ignorance of rule restrictions,incomplete application of rules, and faulty comprehension of distinctions in the target language. There are othercauses of such errors as false analogy and misanalysis (Khan, 2011:106).Many scholars have proposed that identifying errors is insufficient and missing unless they are followed bycorrection, i.e., there is a general belief of not leaving an erroneous utterance in oral as well as written forms butcorrect it. In fact, some scholars have highly believed that findings of error analysis (EA) is beneficial to languageteaching if the teachers are aware enough of the suitable strategies of correcting them at an appropriate time toguarantee better results resulting in the learners' performance. In contrast, other scholars have denied the role oferror correction by supporting the belief that students go through systematic stages in learning and they justacquire a structure when they are ready for it and it has been consistently argued that this practice has inflated thestudents' confidence and wasted their efforts on details which are useless to their overall ability to use a language.Thus, correction has been considered a way to break down the flow and smoothness of a conversation or acommunication practice, especially when the teacher keeps interrupting the students while talking, and it alsolessens the students' motivation and enthusiasm as only their failures and not their goals are highlighted.Excessive comments on errors can also prevent or slow down the learning process if everything is corrected;therefore, the students will risk saying anything unless they are sure it is correct. Additionally, it has beencommonly noticed that some teachers ask their students not only to speak fluently but also accurately and thatmakes communication harder for the students.55
International Journal of Humanities and Social ScienceVol. 5, No. 5; May 2015Based on this, it has been suggested that the best solution is that the teachers try to be more tolerant with theirstudents' errors, let them guess the correct answers, enjoy the learning, and provide them with a feeling of securityto use the language (Martinez, 2006: 2-3).1. 1. Idioms: Definitions and Some Background RemarksIdioms constitute a difficult area of foreign language learning and teaching which many scholars have tried toclarify. Despite the general definition given by Oxford English Dictionary (1993) as “a form of expression,grammatical construction, phrase, peculiar to language; a peculiarity of phraseology approved by the usage of alanguage, and often having a signification other than its grammatical or logical one”, scholars such as Saeed tooka further step and defined idioms as “expressions where the individual words have ceased to have independentmeaning.”He illustrated this point by stating that only some English speakers would be able to guessa meaning of kith in the idiom kith and kin or span in spic and span (1997:60). Fromkin et al. (2011: 581)depicted the same idea, explaining that idioms are expressions whose meanings are unrelated to the principle ofcompositionality, that is, may be not connected to the meaning of their parts. Hence, an idiomatic expression likelet the cat out of the bag is composed of minimal semantic constituents (let/the/cat/out/of/the/bag) whoseindividual meaning does not seem to contribute to the meaning of the idiom as a whole which is reveal a secret.In other words, these semantic constituents are non-compositional because their figurative meaning is inactive tothe meaning of their parts (Fotovatnia & khaki, 2012: 273). This is a typical traditional view of idioms and thus itis believed that learning the meaning of idioms requires that the speaker or learner forms an arbitrary link betweenidioms and their non-literal meaning for a full understanding since this relation as Palmer described it “opaque”(1981:79).Opposing this traditional view of the non-compositionality of idioms, many linguists have focused on thedecomposability and analysis of idioms, believing that the meaning of semantic constituents of idioms maycontribute to their overall figurative meaning. Cruse (2004: 72) argued that idiomatic meanings are based onliteral word meanings within a particular context. Fotovatnia & khaki (2012: 273) stressed on viewing idioms asdecomposable structures since their meanings, either literal or figurative, contribute independently to their overallfigurative interpretation of idioms. For instance, in the phrase pop the question, it is easy to detect that questionrefers to a marriage proposal when the verb pop is used to refer to the act of uttering it (ibid: 273).From a syntactic point of view, Akmajian et al. (1987:258) defined idioms as “syntactically complex wordswhose meaning cannot be predicted, since their syntactic structure is doing no semantic work”. This point hasbeen illustrated by Crystal (cited in Jabboori &Jazza: 4) stating that there is no flexibility in their grammaticalconstruction of words, seeming to be frozen in constrains. For example, it is raining cats and dogs is syntacticallyfixed in which it is not allowed to say it is raining a cat or a dog or it is raining dogs and cats. Yusifova (2013:134) emphasized that idioms have their own internal syntactic features, suggesting that the elements of idiomscannot be regarded as lexical units. That is, idioms cannot be broken into parts in a sentence, neither can bechanged nor new combinations of idioms can be established. Therefore, the whole idiom expresses the intendedmeaning, not give in separately-taken words and idioms as a whole are “syntactic units”, containing a “lexicalwholeness”Idioms are also said to share cultural and historical information and to broaden peoples’ understanding andmanipulation of language. Therefore, idioms are also defined to be “a form of a language that is spoken in aparticular area and that uses some of its own words, grammar, and pronunciations.” (Merriam-Webster’sCollegiate Dictionary, 2008).Moreno (2011:21) elaborated this feature by declaring that idiomatic expressionsgive any language a particular flavor, variation, and color. Similarly, they help language learners have a goodunderstanding of the culture they are used in, get into its customs and lifestyle, and facilitate a deeper insight intoits history.Idioms are a colorful and fascinating aspect of the English language in which they have embraced a number oftypes and themes. Strassler (1982:27) classified them into six different types of idiomatic expressions as follows:substitutes, proper names, abbreviations, English phrasal compounds, figures of speech as homonymy, synonymyand polysemy, and slang expressions. Seidl & McMordie (cited in Leah, 2014) divided idioms into the followingeight categories: informal, formal, verbal, idiomatic pairs, identical pairs, idioms used in special fields, idiomsrelated to special themes, idioms containing special keywords, and idioms with comparisons. In terms of themes,56
ISSN 2220-8488 (Print), 2221-0989 (Online) Center for Promoting Ideas, USAwww.ijhssnet.comKarunakaran & Maisa ( 2013: 112) reported that idioms are connected with animals, the sea, sports, parts of thebody, food and drinks, colors, names of people and places , sight, hearing, touching , smelling, and other topics.Despite the varied themes and types of idioms, there are certain features recommended in idioms. Cruse (1986:37) called for two certain features. The first one is that idioms should contain more than one lexical item. Thesecond is that idioms should form a single minimal semantic constituent. Wright (1999:7) highlighted other twofeatures. The first one is about fixation and recognizability in which native speakers can address idioms, yet theycannot come up with new ones. The second feature pinpoints the metaphorical language used in idioms as inbreak your hearts to mean very sad. Palmer (1981: 80-81) listed ‘semantic opaqueness’ as a distinguishing featureof idioms. Other features listed have been related to their syntactic fixedness or restriction. That is, componentwords of idioms are fixed or ‘frozen’ in a way in which it is unacceptable to change them. For example, you saykick the bucket but you cannot say the bucket was kicked. Also, keywords within idioms cannot be changed orsubstituted. For Cruse (2004:71-72), it seems fruitless and destructive if you substitute the verb pull with tug andthe noun leg with limb in the phrasal idiom pull someone’s leg.Based on the previous definitions and discussions of idioms, scholars have agreed that there are commoncharacteristics shared among idioms as the following:1) Compositionality /Non-compositionality: idioms have meanings expressed. Hence, if the meaning of idiomsis elicited or deducted from the meanings of their semantic constituents, then they are decomposable as playwith fire which means to do something dangerous. If the meaning of idioms cannot be understood on the literaldefinitions of the individual words, then they are non-decomposable as hit the sack which means to go to bed(Moreno, 2011:20).2) Frozenness of Forms: semantic constituents are fixed and cannot be changed, i.e., restricted to lexical andgrammatical conditions (ibid: 20).3) Metaphority: many idioms are not ‘dead’ metaphors, but they in actual fact “retain a good deal of theirmetaphoricity”. In other words, the relationship between the literal and figurative meaning can still be detectedand captured (Gibbs cited in Majuri, 2014: 13).4) Institutionalization: idioms constitute a set of expressions belonging to a certain language or culture(Karunakaran& Maisa, 2013:113).5) Multi-Word Expressions: idioms consist of more than just one word (Moreno, 2011: 20).1.2. Linguistic Features of IdiomsMany linguists have been interested in studying structural, syntactical, morphological and semantical features ofidiomatic expressions. Regarding their structure, Fromkin et al. (2011:151) depicted idioms to be structurallyphrases yet their features of syntactic frozenness do not allow changes in word order. In other words, semanticconstituents of idioms are not separable, and if that were to be true, there would be a lot of idiomatic meanings.For example, you can say she pulled her brother’s leg, but you cannot do any modification of adding new wordsas in she pulled her brother’s left leg or she pulled her brother’s leg with a sharp tug (Cruse: 2004:71).Syntactically, Palmer (1981:80) focused on the frozenness of syntactic structure of idioms, illustrating that idiomscontaining a verb and a noun, for example, may allow a change in the tense, yet not in the number of nouns.Therefore, you can say spilled the beans but not spilled the bean. Idioms also do not allow adjectives combinewith nouns to be changed into a comparative form. Thus, we find red herring but not redder herring. However,Yusifova (2103: 137) proposed a contradictory idea, explaining that the changes to singular and plural forms arepossible within most idioms as it can be said smell a rat, kick the bucket, and chew the fat. Furthermore, hecommented that countable nouns can be uncountable in most idioms and vice-versa. For example, wear the deckwear the decks, and go into detail-go into details. He concluded that such changes are a clear proof of complexityand flexibility of language. From a different perspective, Cowie et al. (1983: xi) stated that idiomatic expressionsare categorized into two major syntactic forms. The first category is phrasal idioms that correlate with variousgrammatical parts of speech as the following: they can be verbs as ‘break down’, nouns as ‘a crashing bore’,adjectives as ‘free with one’s money’, adverbs as ‘as often as not’, and prepositional as ‘in the nick of time’. Thesecond category is clause idioms composed of a verb and a complement as ‘go berserk’, a verb and a direct objectas ‘ease somebody’s conscience/mind’, a verb and a direct object and a complement as ‘paint the town red’, averb and indirect object and a direct object as ‘do somebody credit’, and a verb and direct object and an adjunct as‘take something amiss’.57
International Journal of Humanities and Social ScienceVol. 5, No. 5; May 2015Idioms also have some semantic features. According to Cruse (2004:71), semantic constituents do not combinewith other genuine semantic constituents. Hence, it is incorrect if it is said she pulled and twisted her brother’sleg. Idioms are seemingly very systematic, yet they can break the rules of combining semantic properties as in heate his hat where the object of the verb eat is an inedible thing. Therefore, this restriction is violated ordisregarded (Fromkin et al, 2011: 151).Morphologically speaking, Haspelmath (cited in Ali, 2001: 43) differentiated between two kinds of idioms as itfollows: weak ones in which a language user or a speaker can make some predictions of meaning of idioms basedon lexemes, and strong ones in which meanings of idioms cannot be predicted or guessed from the meaning ofcomponents.In translating idioms, which do not have the equivalent or partly equivalent idiomatic expressions in the targetlanguage, the arising problem is not only about conveying their meaning using the lexemes of the target language,but it is also about the loss of the metaphoric or figurative meaning of the translation idiom in the target language(Suchanova, 2013: 157). If anyone has to translate idioms, he/she should be careful not to translate them word byword, taking into consideration the pragmatic side of them, i.e., message conveyed and communicated by people(Jabboori & Jazza, 2013: 12).1.3. Importance of Idiomatic Expressions to Language UsersIdioms cover a wide range of various life aspects and form an integral part of daily language use. Every yearmany idioms enter into the English language from the world of sports and entertainment, such as have a goodinnings or dice with death. Some idioms are formed from rural life and transportation as eat like a horse or put thecart before the horse. Additionally, idioms come to include money, business, money, food and body such asarmed to teeth meaning heavily armed with killing weapons (Karunakaran& Maisa, 2013:112).Idioms are commonly used in all types of languages including informal and formal as well as spoken and written.They play a vital role in media, standard speech, business, and education (ibid: 112). According to Cowie et al.(1993: x), being familiar with a wide range of idioms and able to use them accurately and appropriately are amongthe distinguishing marks of a native command of the language and trust-worthy indicators of the proficiency offoreign learners. Based on this, many scholars have focused on the importance of learning idioms and masteringthem particularly by the non-native speakers of English for the following reasons:First of all, idioms are like lubricants that make language runs and flows smoothly. Idioms are termed ‘figurativecompetence’ referring to the ability to produce and comprehend idioms. Learners who have uploaded their skillswith such a competency are able to produce and use idioms in different contexts of communication easily andeffectively, leading to a better proficiency and a higher fluency in the second or foreign language learning andacquisition (Jabboori &Jazza, 2013: 9).Second, idiomatic use is believed to have a great effect on listeners or readers since they constitute an essentialpart of vocabulary learning (Bagheri & Fazel, 2010: 46). In other words, nonnative speakers can gain morevocabulary through the use of idiomatic expressions, have a better understanding of the language, and becomemore proficient in order to sound native-like. Martin & Nippold (1989:59) also valued the importance ofunderstanding idioms because they exist in written and spoken texts consistently. He also believed thatunderstanding idioms may add extra benefits to knowledge about lexical growth and development. Conversely,any failure to comprehend their meaning may affect the learners' understanding of a language in social, academicand vocabulary contexts.Third, idioms are significantly effective in the process of teachability and learnability, That is , idioms to mindand memory is a mental aerobic in which the learners become mentally more active and fresher when memorizingand recalling idioms (Mola, 1993: 18).Finally, idioms with their metaphorical, poetic, and cultural insights help language learners understand othercultures and historical backgrounds get into their custom and lifestyle, and facilitate a deeper vision into history,resulting into broadening the learners’ thinking and ability of drawing appropriate images about other cultures(Dong, 2004:30).It goes without saying that mastering idioms goes beyond comprehension. That is, using or not using a givenidiom must be associated with usage restrictions especially when it comes to taboo idioms and their use (Boers etal., 2007: 46).58
ISSN 2220-8488 (Print), 2221-0989 (Online) Center for Promoting Ideas, USAwww.ijhssnet.comThe learners as well as the users of idioms also need to be familiar with the fact that some idioms are restricted tocultural stereotypes. Some of them function as keys to cultural knowledge associated with the meaning ofrestricted usage. Hence, any lack of acquiring cultural competence might be responsible for the learners’ failure toget such culturally marked idioms (Huang, 2001: 268).2. Review of Related LiteratureMost of idioms processing articles in the literature have focused on the learners' receptive comprehension in thefirst language (L1). Experiments have mainly discussed the calculated speed of a subject’s comprehension ofidioms as a measurement to see if idioms' figurative or literal meaning has been taken first or not. A large numberof studies, however, have shed lights on the importance of teaching idioms and best techniques recommended tobe adopted by teachers in the foreign or the second language learners’ classes. Few studies have aimed at tacklingEnglish idioms errors made by Arab learners studying English as a foreign language (EFL).Irujo (1986: 287-304) examined whether there was a transfer of native language training and /or interference inlearning English idioms of (L2) Venezuelan students in an American university who were advanced learners ofEnglish as a second language. The researcher conducted a number of tests of recognition, comprehension, recall,and production involving fifteen equivalents and commonly used English and Spanish idioms. Statistical analysisof the results indicated the subjects were able to generalize from the idiom’s meaning in Spanish to its meaning inEnglish, even when the form was slightly different, and they could correctly produce many more identical idiomsof other types. This was attributed to the use of positive transfer. Negative interference also occurred on the twoproduction tests, more for similar than totally different idioms. These results and justifications supported thenotion that advanced second language learners whose first language was closely related to the second could useknowledge and backgrounds of idioms in their first language to comprehend and produce idioms in the secondlanguage. It was concluded that similarities between languages may facilitate interference and that idioms are notalways nontransferable.Ali (2001:38-60) conducted a study to investigate errors made by Iraqi EFL learners in English idioms. Morespecifically, this study aimed at examining (60) fourth-year students in the Department of English, College ofEducation, University of Tikrit, by setting a test composed of (20) items of multiple choice covering various areasof idiomatic expressions. The result showed that there was an overall weakness in understanding idioms. Testedstudents had the lowest scores in comprehending idioms of pair of adjectives, pairs of nouns and identical pairsrespectively. He attributed such failure to the inadequateness for successful learning of idiomatic expressions inclasses during college year.Alsakran (2001) examined the productive and receptive knowledge of lexical and grammatical collocationsamong advanced Arabic-speaking learners of English. Furthermore, it investigated whether the languageenvironment (ESL) or (EFL) had an influence on the acquisition of collocations. It also explored whether therewas a significant difference between participants’ performance on three types of colocations: verb-noun,adjective-noun, and verb -preposition. Subjects of the study was comprised of (68) students Saudi students at theInstitute of Public Administration in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and (30) Arab students in the Intensive Englishprogram at Colorado State university. The participants’ productive collocation knowledge was measured by anappropriateness judgment test. The results revealed that the participants’ learning environment had a strong effecton the acquisition of second language collocation in which the (ESL) learners had higher scores than (EFL)learners. Also, the participants’ productive knowledge of collocation was lag far behind their perceptive one. Themost important result was the Arabic-speaking learners of English demonstrated poor knowledge of collocationson the test.Huang (2001:113-132) investigated (60) Taiwanese (EFL) college students’ knowledge of English collocationsand errors they made. They were tested by a self-designed Simple Completion of four types of lexicalcollocations: free combinations, restricted collocations, figurative idioms, and pure idioms. The results indicatedthat there was insufficient knowledge of English collocations especially of pure idioms. It was concluded that theTaiwanese (EFL) learners’ errors in collocations could be attributed to negative first language transfer.Zoughoul &Hussein (2001:1-19) detected learners’ productive competence in collocations and idioms by meansof their performance on two interdependent tasks. Two groups of (EFL) undergraduates and graduates from theEnglish department at Jordan’s Yarmouk university were asked to answer a multiple choice task of (16) randomlyselected Arabic idioms and collocations and a translation task of the same idioms and collo
1. 1. Idioms: Definitions and Some Background Remarks Idioms constitute a difficult area of foreign language learning and teaching which many scholars have tried to clarify. Despite the general definition given by Oxford English
2. Illustrating Idioms Two 3. Illustrating Idioms Three 4. Illustrating Idioms Four 5. Illustrating Idioms Five 6. Illustrating Idioms Six 7. Illustrating Idioms Seven 8. Illustrating Idioms Eight 9. Illustrating Idioms Nine 10. Illustrating Idioms Ten These pages are great for big kids to practice using and understanding idioms during reading .
1 Few idioms stay in frequent usage for a long time. 2 Your English may sound unnatural if you use certain idioms. 3 Idioms can be used for dramatic effect. 4 Idioms are frequently used to comment on people and situations. 5 Headline writers always use idioms in their correct form. 6 Idioms
learners of English: Cambridge Idioms Dictionary. and . Oxford Idioms Dictionary . in focus _ by Anna Stachurska studies English idioms and focuses on the question of how usage of English idioms is marked within two most representative idioms dictionaries, namely . Oxford Idioms Dictionary
3.2 Idioms with Different Literal or Figurative Meanings When literal meanings or figurative meanings of English and Chinese idioms are a bit different, but their implicated meanings are the same, a translator can also borrow idioms from Chinese in translating English idioms. Such idioms as Among the blind the one" -eyed man is kingis "
(2) bodily only idioms; (3) random non-bodily idioms. Our results pointed to a clear difference between the understanding of the three groups of idioms: those with the visuo-spatial component were understood best, followed by idioms referring to the body only and random idioms respectively, with strong statistical significances for the differences.
Lesson 9: Business Idioms – Part 1 Idioms are short phrases with meanings that are different from the meanings of their individual words. Idioms are different from slang - idioms are in between formal and informal, so they are acceptable in everyday English conversations and
The distribution of the animal idioms collected from the Oxford Idioms Dictionary for Learners of English (2006) ü68species ü201 idioms -vertebrates, and 20 idioms –invertebrates üSpecificall
of idioms, see, for example the Longman Dictionary of English Idioms, 1979. and the Oxford Dictionary ojCurrent Idiomatic English .Vol 1 1975(2ndedn 1993), Vol 2 1983, and Alexander (1987) and Lattey (1986)) Most views of idioms agree that idioms
